Display package for cosmetics



Oct. 8, 1968 s. LEVINE DISPLAY PACKAGE FOR COSMETICS Filed July 10, 1967 United States PatentO 3,404,774 DISPLAY PACKAGE FOR COSMETICS Sol Levine, New York, N.Y., assignor to Del LaboratYorieks, Inc., Farmingdale, N.Y., a corporation of New Filed July 10, 1967, Ser. No. 652,113

8 Claims. (Cl. 20678) 1 ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A display packagefor a cosmetic product such as lipstick or nail lacquer which product is composed of two parts, one being a handled cosmetic applicator such as a brush or lipstick rod, and the second being a part with an open-ended cavity such as a cap or a bottle, to receive the applicator and ensheathe the same with the handle outside the second part. The two parts are detachably interengageable when the applicator is ensheathed in the second part. The second part has a shoulder near its open end, but otherwise is of substantially uniform configuration. The cosmetic product is secured to a flat panel by a pocket which is shaped to receive the second part, the pocket having an open top through which the handle of the first part extends. The open top of the pocket has an inwardly directed flange which engages the shoulder of the second part so as to captively hold the second part against the panel while permitting removal of the first part through manipulation of the handle.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field'of the invention A cosmetic display, package in which the cosmetic product is held against a flat panel by a pocket which permits detachment of the cosmetic applicator from the product while retaining the balance of the product in the pocket.

Description of the prior art out. Such testing'of the product might not be hygienic but women have come to expect it and it encourages sales. 7 Ithas been proposed to discourage pilfering by mounting cosmetic products of the character described on paperboar d sheets, that is to say, panels, the product being held to the panel by blister packaging or the like which covered the entire product so that no part of it could be touched or tampered with without physically stripping the plastic blister from the panel. Although this has re duced pilfering, it has interfered with the above described point-of-sales marketing effect because it prevents the product from being evaluated by the potential purchaser. The potential purchaser, for instance, cannot clearly see the lipstick or nail lacquer, cannot test out the color by sampling the same, cannot smell it for 'an odor that may not be acceptable, and cannot test the lipstick for texture and matching to skin tone.

This latter disadvantage has been recognized for a considerable period of time and to date has not been overcome. An elfort has been made to avoid the drawback by only securing to the paperboard panel the applicator portion of a lipstick and allowing only the cap to be removed. However, such approach is not acceptable because 3,404,774 Patented Oct. 8, 1 968 all it permits is visual inspection of the lipstick rod. It does not enable the lipstick rod to be brushed against the wearers skin for sampling, nor does it allow the prospectlve purchaser to grasp the lipstick applicator so that she may appreciate how it feels to handle. Moreover, such proposed approach for lipstick is of no use for nail lacquer. Furthermore, the foregoing approach required formation of a circumferential rib on the lipstick handle where none had been before and this necessitated a revision in the manufacture of the product.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Itis an object of the present invention to provide a new cosmetic display package which is not subject to any of the aforementioned defects. 1

More particularly, it is an object of the invention to provide a new cosmetic display package which permits the applicator to be completely withdrawn from either the bottle or the cap so that the prospective purchaser can make all of the tests to which she previously was accustorned and thereby will be prone to buy this particular product rather than a product differently displayed.

It is another object of the invention to provide a cosmetic display package of the character described which does not require any change in the product.

Other objects of the invention in part will be obvious and in part will be pointed out hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combinations of elements, and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the display package for cosmetics hereinafter described and of which the scope of application will be indicated in the appended claims.

In general, the several objects of the invention are achieved by providing a display package which includes a cosmetic product and a flat mounting panel for said product. Typical products are lipstick and nail lacquer. The product is composed of two parts of which the first is a cosmetic applicator with a handle, such, for instance, a handled nail lacquer brush or a handled lipstick rod, and the second is a member having an open-ended hollow interior. The applicator of the first part is insertable through the open end into the hollow interior of the second part, thereby sheathing the applicator when the two parts are thus coupled. At such time the handle is outside of the second part. The two parts have cooperating means for detachably interengaging the same in coupled position. The second part has an abrupt reduction in cross-section adjacent its open end, this being the shoulder of the nail lacquer bottle adjacent the reduced diameter neck thereof and the edge of the open end of the lipstick cap. Except for this abrupt reduction in cross-section, the second part of the cosmetic product is of substantially uniform cross-section near its open end. The cosmetic product is disposed on the flat mounting panel and is held there by a transparent pocket which conforms to the shape of the second part of the product. The pocket has front and side walls and a bottom wall which define its shape. It also has an open back which is closed by the panel and it has an open top above which the handle of the first part of the cosmetic product is located. The pocket is fastened to the panel. The open top of the pocket is formed with an inwardly directed flange which engages the shoulder of the aforesaid second part of the product so as to captively retain said second part in the pocket, although allowing the first part of the product to be removed by its handle from said second part for purchaser inspection or trial use.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In accompanying drawings, in which are shown various possible embodiments of the present invention:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the cosmetic display package showing a nail lacquer bottle and applicator, a flat panel, and a pocket, the bottle and applicator being illustrated in full lines in coupled position, and the applicator being shown in withdrawn position in dot and dash lines;

FIGS. 2 and 3 are sectional views taken substantially along the lines 22 and 33, respectively, of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 1, but illustrating a modified form of the invention in which the cosmetic product is lipstick rather than nail lacquer; and

FIGS. 5 and 6 are sectional views taken substantially along the lines 55 and 6-6, respectively, of FIG. 4.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now in detail to the drawings, and, more particularly, to FIGS. l-3, the reference numeral 10 denotes a cosmetic display package according to the present invention. The package includes a cosmetic product 12 in the form of nail lacquer, a flat mounting panel 14, and a pocket 16.

The nail lacquer 12 includes a bottle 18 which usually is made of glass and contains within it a quantity of a liquid nail lacquer 20, e.g. a nail polish, a nail hardener, a nail undercoating or a nail overcoating. The bottle 18 is of conventional shape, having a body of substantially uniform diameter for the major portion of its length that tapers abruptly at a shoulder 22 to a reduced diameter externally threaded neck 24. The upper end of the neck is open, forming the mouth of the bottle. Attention is particularly drawn to the fact that, as soon will be appreciated, the configuration of the bottle is entirely conventional. That is to say, no special configuration is required in order to adapt any conventional bottle for use in accordance with the present invention, it being necessary only that, like an ordinary bottle, the body has an abrupt reduction in cross-section adjacent the open end of the bottle, this, of course, being the open end that communicates with the hollow interior of the bottle in which the liquid nail lacquer is contained.

The nail lacquer 12 further includes an applicator 26 in the form of a slender tube 28 whose bottom end has protruding therefrom an applicator brush 30. The applicator also includes a handle 32, the same being fast to the upper end of the tube 28 and coaxial therewith. Said handle actually is in the form of a cap, e.g., a plastic cap, having a female thread which meshes with the male thread on the external surface of the neck 24 of the bottle '18. When the cap is threaded onto the bottle, the applicator 26 will be ensheathed within the hollow interior of the bottle, passing into the same through the open end of the neck 24.

The mounting panel 14 is composed of a thin, flat sheet of any self-form-maintaining material, the same usually, for the purpose of economy and ease of manufacture, being made of cardboard or paperboard. The configuration of the panel is no part of the invention. As a standard practice the panel is of rectangular shape and is provided with an opening for facilitating support from a horizontal rod. However, it will be apparent that this configuration is mentioned only by way of example. Usually, the front and back of the mounting panel will be imprinted with various instructional indicia, trademarks, manufacturer identification, price information and so forth.

The pocket 16 preferably is formed of a transparent material, for example, a plastic, any of the well known synthetic plastics being suitable for use. Mentioned by way of example are cellulose acetate, cellulose acetate butyrate, polystyrene, polystyrene-butadiene, polyamide resins and acrylic resins. In the preferred form of the invention the pocket is made of a clear transparent plastic so as to provide an excellent display of the cosmetic product, specifically, of the bottle and its contents. The use of a clear transparent plastic also enables the label, which usually is on the bottle, to be visually displayed. It is with- Cit in the scope of the invention to impart a colored tint to the pocket for aesthetic or advertising purposes'or product identification. Structurally, as soon will be seen, the invention also will work satisfactorily if the pocket is opaque.

The specific pocket 16 shown in FIGS. 1-3 is of a thin sheet plastic which is fabricated from thin sheetstock by forming the sheet into the desired shape through the application of heat and pressure. Said pocket 10 includes a front wall 34, side walls 36, 38 and a bottom wall 40 all in one piece. The top of the pocket is open. Likewise, the back of the pocket is open. The pocket 16 is shaped and dimensioned to conform to the shapeof the bottle 18, specifically, to the shape of the bottle exclusive of the neck 24, so that when the bottle is disposed in the pocket with the neck extending out of the open top of the pocket, the bottle, if its open back is closed, in a manner soon to be described, will be held captive in the pocket, although the open top of the bottle, to wit, the neck, will extend above the open top of the pocket.

To retain the bottle in the pocket, that is to say, to preventthe bottle from being withdrawn bodily out of the open top of the pocket, said pocket has in one piece therewith an inwardly directed flange 42 at its open top, the flange extending inwardly from the top edges of the front wall 34 and side walls 36, 38 so as to constrict the aforesaid open top. The flange 42 engages the shoulder 22 of the bottle, thus securing the desired captive retention of the bottle 18 in the pocket 16. It is within the scope of the invention for the flange to extend completely over the open top end of the pocket, but having an opening therein through which the neck 24 of the bottle extends.

The pocket 16 together with the bottle 18 captively retained therein is placed on the front of the panel 1 4 so as to close the open back of the pocket and thereby fully captively hold the bottle in place, so that it cannot be removed from the panel, except by destroying the pocket and/or the panel which is done by the purchaser after she has bought the packaged product and is free to do with it as she wishes.

The pocket 16 is mounted on the panel in any suitable fashion. As shown in FIGS. 1-3, the bottom and side walls of the pocket are formed with a flange 44 in'one piece with the pocket. Said flange is juxtaposed to the front face of the panel and is permanently attached thereto. Any suitable means may be used to effect such permanent attachment. For instance, a film 46 of glue may be employed to hold the flange to the front face of the panel. Alternatively, the rear face of the flange 44 can be tackified, as by the application of a thin coating of a solvent, to render said back surface of the flange sufliciently sticky to adhere to the front face of the panel and upon evaporation of the solvent, to be permanently attached thereto. Also, the flange can be secured to the panel by the application of heat with or without pressure, the heat, for instance, being supplied by high frequency heating.

In the finished cosmetic display package 10, as shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the bottle 18, with its liquid nail lacquer therein and with the applicator 26 ensheathed in the bottle and with the cap 32 of the bottle in place, is captively held to the mounting panel 14 by the pocket 16. However, the entire cosmetic product is not enclosed within the pocket. Rather, only the major portion (body) of the bottle is enclosed in the pocket, being held in place by the configuration of the pocket and the flange 42 at the upper end of the pocket. The neck 24 extends outside of the pocket. The applicator cap 32, which 'serves as a handle for the applicator, also is outside of the pocket where a shopper can easily manipulate the same. If the shopper desires to make certain personal tests on the nail lacquer, she merely unscrews the cap and withdraws the applicator from the bottle. She then may closely inspect the color of the nail lacquer, she may ascertain for herself whether the odor of the nail lacquer is one to which she has no objection, she may even try the nail lacquer out on a nail to see if it dries to a shade that she wants. She

can do all of these things but she is never in complete possessioofif the entire cosmetic product; that is to say, of the applicator and the bottle, unless she removes the bottle fIOmihQpCCkfit, and this is noteasy to do short of brazen pilfering'. Therefore, if she'wishes to purchase the product, she will return the applicator to its bottle, retighten the cap and carry the package to a cashier or salesgirl. Thus, pilfering of the nail lacquer has been made less easy and yet the buyer can perform point -of-sales tests whichwill encourage purchase of the product.

Attention isdrawn to the fact that because the bottle is heldjin-place by the flange 42 which engages the shoulder conventionally present on all hollow-interiored open-ended parts of cosmetic products, particularly the part which receives the applicator, it is not necessary to change the configuration of the product in order to accommodate the product to the unique type of display package of the instant invention. Thus, this package lends itself readily to use with standard forms of cosmetic products and its use will not be discouraged through the need of altering the configuration of a conventional cosmetic product.

In FIGS. 4-6 there is shown a modified form of the present invention in which the cosmetic product is lipstick rather than nail lacquer, in which a different form of pocket is utilized, and in which the pocket is secured'to the mounting panel in a fusion other than that disclosed in FIGS. l-3. In FIGS. 46 the reference numeral 50 denotes the cosmetic display package, the same being made up of a cosmetic product 52 inthe form of lipstick, a flat mounting'panel 54 and a transparent pocket 56.

The mounting panel is the same as the mounting panel 14 described with respect to the first form of the invention. f

1 'The lipstick 52, like the nail lacquer 12, is composed of two parts. In the case of the nail lacquer these two parts were, respectively, the bottle and the handled applicator which were adapted to be detachably coupled with the applicator ensheathed within the hollow' interior of the open-ended bottle. In the case 'of the lipstick, which is'employed in the modified embodiment of the present invention, the cosmetic'product is composed of a lipstick rod 58 and a cap '60 for the same. The cap has a hollow interior with an open end, the lipstick rod is adapted to beensheathed in the cap and coupled thereto with the handle of the rod remaining outside of the cap as does the handleof the nail lacquer applicator.

Specifically, the lipstick rod is a circular bar of a suitably colored pomade Thesetypes of bars are so well known to the art that it is superfluous to describe the same in detail here; They usually will be of a single color throughout and the color may even be white. Sometimes the bar is composed of two or more colors. The bar usually is perfumed and may include some form of medic ament. The bar is secured to a handle 62 and usually is attached thereto through a propel-repel mechanism of a conventional type which, too, is so well known that its construction has not been illustrated and will not be described. It suffices to say that a tube, e.g., a plastic or metal tube 64 is carried by the handle 62 and is rotatable relative thereto. When the handle is turned in one direction relative to said tube 64, the lipstick rod will be pro pelled out of the end of the tube 64 and when the handle is turned in the other direction relative to said tube the lipstick rod will be withdrawn into a concealed position within the tube, this being the position in which the rod is shown in FIG. 5. The handle has a segment 66 of reduced diameter on which there are provided squat ribs 68.

The cap 60 is a tube of uniform diameter with one end closed. The open end of the cap is adapted to have the tube 64 inserted therein up to the point that the mouth of the cap is near but does not quite touch the enlarged head of the handle 62. With the tube and cap thus coupled the cap will frictionally engage the ribs 68 and be thereby held to the handle 62.

As thus far described, the lipstick 52 is entirely conventional, and, indeed, it is an object of the present invention to display a lipstick of completely conventional construction without having in any way to modify any part of the lipstick, i.e., its handle, its tube, or its cap, to render the same capable of cooperation with the pocket 56 and panel 54 for display purposes. As soon will be appreciated, the feature, and it is a conventional one, of the lipstick which enables it to be employed in a cosmetic display package of the present invention is the fact that the applicator, in this case the lipstick rod, is provided with a handle, that the applicator can be ensheathed in the second part, in this case the cap, with the handle 62 protruding from the second part and the rod disposed within the hollow interior of the cap, and that the second part, to wit, the cap has an abrupt reduction in cross-section adjacent its open end.

The lipstick 52 is disposed on the mounting panel 54 and is held there by the pocket 56. The pocket '56 is similar in function to the pocket 16, but differs therefrom in structural detail. In particular, the pocket 56 is fabricated of a thermoplastic synthetic resin by injection molding, rather than being formed from an initially fiat sheet of plastic. Said pocket 56, like the pocket 16, preferably is made of a clear transparent plastic. The pocket 56 includes a front wall 72, side walls 74, 76 and a bottom wall 78 all in one piece. The pocket 56 usually will be slightly thicker than the pocket 16 and accordingly is somewhat more rigid and thereby will present what many consider to be a more attractive display unit. Also, because the pocket 56 is made by injection molding, it is easier to handle when unmounted and particularly is easy to handle in automated assembling equipment. Similarly, because it is made by injection molding, the pocket 56 is less expensive to manufacture in very large quantities. The back of the pocket 56 is open, as is the top of the pocket. The back of the pocket is, of course, closed by the flat mounting panel 54 when the pocket is placed thereon with its back up against the panel.

As shown in FIGS. 4-6, there is provided a simple, yet speedily effected interengagement between the pocket and panel. This constitutes a series of lugs 80 formed integrally on the rear edge of each of the side walls 74, 76 and extending rearwardly therefrom. These lugs, as molded, are of the same thickness as the side walls 74, 76 and are coplanar therewith. Each side wall is fashioned with three such lugs. The height of the lugs is slightly, e.g. of an inch, in excess of the thickness of the panel 54. The panel is formed with matching openings 82 into which the lugs 80 are inserted. Due to the height of the lugs the tips of the lugs project from the back surface of the panel. These tips are pressed with a heated element causing the tips to mushroom, i.e. to be headed, as shown at the left of FIG. 6. The lug 80 shown to the right of FIG. 6 has not had heat and pressure applied thereto and therefore is illustrated in its originally inserted position. Inasmuch as the rear edges of the side walls 74, 76 butt up against the front face of the panel 54 and the undersides of the mushroomed heads of the lu-gs 80 butt up against the rear surface of the panel, the pocket will be firmly held in place.

The top edges of the front and side walls 72 of the pocket are formed with an inwardly extending flange 84 in one piece therewith which engages the top edge of the open mouth of the cap 60. The opposite closed end of the cap engages the bottom wall 78 of the pocket 56. Hence, when the pocket is mounted on the panel with the cap contained therein, the pocket is captively held in place inasmuch as the pocket conforms to the shape of the cap and since the flange 84 prevents the cap from being withdrawn from the pocket without destruction of the pocket, destruction of the panel or forcible disengagement of the pocket from the panel, none of which can be easily performed on the retailers premises. However, with the cap, which constitutes the second part of the cosmetic product as heretofore defined, captively held within the pocket, the handle 62 is clear of the pocket, being disposed above the same, and said handle, together with the applicator, in this case the lipstick rod 58, can be withdrawn from the cap captively held within the pocket, so that the prospective purchaser can perform whatever test she wishes with the lipstick rod before she actually buys the same and can restore the rod to its second part, the cap, if she does not wish to buy it. However, if she wants the entire cosmetic product, she will have to purchase both parts together because the second part is held captive in the foregoing manner to the mounting panel.

It will be observed that when the cap 60 and rod 58 are coupled, with the cap in the pocket, a narrow annular space is present between the mouth of the cap and the enlarged head of the handle 62, the flange 84 being accommodated in such space. After the lipstick is removed from the pocket the rod can be fully inserted in the cap andsuch space will not be present.

It thus will be seen that there have been provided cosmetic display packages which achieve the several objects of the invention, and which are well adapted to meet the conditions of practical use.

As various possible embodiments might be made of the present invention, and as various changes might be made in the embodiments above set forth, it is to be understood that all matter herein described or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense. 1

Having thus described the present invention, there i claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent:

1. A display package for cosmetics, said package including a cosmetic product composed of two parts, one of said parts constituting a cosmetic applicator with a handle, the second of said parts having a hollow interior, said second part having an open end thereof communicating with the hollow interior, the applicator of said first part being insertable through the open end into the interior of the second part to sheath the applicator with the handle outside the second part, cooperating means on said two parts detachably interengaging said parts when said applicator is ensheathed in said second part, said second part having a shoulder adjacent the said open end, said package also including a flat panel and a pocket, said pocket having a front wall, side walls, a bottom wall, an open back and an open top and being shaped and dimensioned to conform to said second part of the cosmetic product with the open end thereof at the open top of the pocket, said pocket being disposed on said panel with its open back against the panel so that the panel closes the back of the pocket, means securing said pocket to said panel in such position, said pocket having an inwardly directed flange at the top of its front and side walls which constricts the open top of the pocket and engages the shoulder of said second part and thereby captively retainssaid second part in said pocket, the handle'of said first part being located above the top of said pocket, whereby said first part may be removed. by its handle from said second part for inspection or trial use of the applicator while the second part remains captive in the pocket.

2. A cosmetic display package as set forth in claim 1 in which the cosmetic product is nail lacquer, the second part is a bottle with a neck joined to the bottle by the shoulder, liquid nail lacquer is contained within the bottle, the first part is a brushapplicator carried by a handle which detachably engages the neck and .extends above the bottle, and the neck of the bottle extends through the open top of the pocket.

3. A cosmetic display package as set forth in claim 2 wherein the neck of the bottle has a male thread and wherein the handle of the applicator is a cap having a fe-v male thread engaging the male thread of the neck so that when a cap is unscrewed from the bottle the applicator can be withdrawn from the bottle for inspection or trial use.

4. A cosmetic display package as set forth in claim 1 wherein the means securing the pocket to the panel is an inwardly extending flange at the rear edges of the side and bottom walls of thepocket which flange is attached to the panel.

5. A cosmetic display package as set forth in claim 1 wherein the pocket is formed from sheet material.

6. A cosmetic display package as set forth in claim 1 wherein the pocket is injection molded.

7. A cosmetic display package as set forth in claim 6 wherein the rear edges of the pocket are provided with lugs, and wherein the panel is formed with openings through which the lugs extend, the tips of the lugs projecting from the back surface of the panel and being headed to engage said back surface and thereby form the means securing the pocket to the panel.

8. A cosmetic display package as set forth in claim 1 wherein the cosmetic product is a lipstick, the first part being a lipstick rod having a handle and the second part being a cap adapted to have the lipstick rod inserted and ensheathed' therein and detachably coupled thereto, said cap being captively secured within the pocket with the inwardly directed flange engaging the edge of the cap at q the open end thereof, said edge constituting the shoulder,

3,139,182 6/1964 Edell.

MARTHA L. RICE, Primary Examiner. 

